My Life with Rural Healthcare | Eastern North Carolina Now

    My Life with Rural Healthcare

    I am now age 68. Since I was age 30, I have suffered from a chronic prostate. It is a direct result of stress and dealing with a small town Baptist church in the beginning! It always happens when I am burning the candle at both ends and in the middle. Stress can hurt you in many ways.

    I awoke that first night and needed to go and pee badly. NOTHING was coming out! I went back to bed and awoke about an hour later. I told my wife, "I have to go to the hospital NOW! I can't pee."

    We had a small hospital in that SC town. At 2:00 in the morning, thank God there was no waiting for the catheter to relive my bladder before it exploded. I had heard of catherization, but the description was hardly adequate. As the Orderly prepared the little tube for insertion I said, "Look, when I have been this badly blocked up before I had to pee again in an hour. Can you leave it in?" He answered that the Dr. Instructed only this and he could do no more.

    Sure enough, after about an hour I had to go again. I knew what they would do at the hospital wasn't worth the 2nd trip so I started searching for a solution. Fortunately, I had a left over sitz bath tube my wife had after our baby's birth. A good application of Vaseline and cutting the tube from its bag gave relief. I was able to get back to sleep, but the story was not over!

    The next morning, I told my wife I still could not go so we needed the larger hospital 23 miles away. There, I had to wait a while for a Urologist to see me, but he put in a permanent catheter. I knew I was on the right track. What he told me was interesting: "I have tried to get these other small hospitals to put in a permanent tube and refer their patients to me for the next day. A situation like yours is NEVER solved with temporary measures. Besides, the risk of infection is increased every time a catheter is inserted."

    You haven't lived until you have been catheterized 3 times in about 8 hours!!! The one I administered to myself was no fun at all, but I knew more than the small hospital doc who would not listen. He was doing as he was trained without the further training in Urology.

    This is a prime example of the Belhaven problem. All the medical professionals need to work TOGETHER for the good of their patients---NOT spend endless hours in court spending much money on lawyers.

    Does anyone these days care about being a Physician over making money?????

    Today a report out of Vidant indicates they don't have enough profit so some 150 "positions" are going to be eliminated. This is corporate speak for "people are going to lose their jobs. We have to make more money right now!"

    I was adequately insured under a group plan. It wasn't that they would not get paid. It was a lack of COMMUNICATION between the Specialist and small town medicine. Nothing has really changed over some 38 years to today. If anything, it is getting worse!

    I have always valued the advice and ministry of good Doctors. I have a high standard that they care and communicate with me in common sense terms. I refuse to deal with any doctor who just cares about making money and getting me out ASAP for another patient and another buck.

    I went to Emory as pre-med. Organic Chemistry horror stories were enough to make a freshman struggling with regular chemistry consider another profession. I ended up in Psychology and was glad I did. Ultimately, I ended up in Ordained Ministry with a Master of Divinity degree. My biggest disappointment there was people hiding their imperfections from the Preacher. Many couples I might have helped did not want their car seen at the Preacher's house. Their attempts to cover their issues, so personal and private, got no help because of PRIDE.

    People will gossip --- in a small town especially. A minister who runs his mouth even to his wife is not abiding by the confidentiality necessary for helping.

    If the horror story of the Belhaven Hospital closed is not handled by caring citizens who only want quality healthcare, it will be a bad result. Already friends on opposing sides are made an enemy for the rest of life over wanting to win over wanting to help and succeed.

    How many people of good will can come to the rescue? Cooler heads can solve this dilemma. Caring Physicians, now running a giant Non-Profit / Tax-exempt Corporation, need to think about helping over making money.

    This is a national issue. Our Belhaven hospital is only one example of money-making over healthcare.
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